Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is History: We Must Not Forget Its Cost

Washington, D.C. – Today marks the advent of full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the 1993 law making gay and lesbian servicemembers liable for discharge if they admitted their sexual orientation.  While there will be celebrations and night watch parties throughout the nation marking this historic day in the struggle for LGBTQ equality, we cannot afford to forget the terrible cost anti-gay discrimination has wrought in the Armed Forces of the United States.  So, today, we lift up the lives and patriotic service of four gay men who died because of the ignorance and bigotry of other servicemembers, and the systemic bigotry of the services themselves which at best permitted these murders, and at worst encouraged them.

Seaman August Provost of Houston, Texas, was shot to death on duty in a Camp Pendleton guard shack, and his remains were burned to erase the evidence of the deed on June 30, 2009 in San Diego, California. He had recently complained to his family that a fellow servicemember was harassing him because of his sexual orientation.  He feared speaking with his superiors about the harassment because of the threat of discharge due to DADT.  His partner in life, Kaether Cordero of Houston, said, “People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew. He didn’t care that they knew. He trusted them.”  Seaman Provost joined the Navy in 2008 to gain benefits to finish school, where he was studying to become an architectural engineer.

Private First Class Michael Scott Goucher, a veteran of the Iraq War, was murdered near his home in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, on February 4, 2009 by an assailant who stabbed him at least twenty times. Known locally as “Mike on a Bike” by neighbors and friends, Goucher was an assistant organist for a congregation of the United Church of Christ, and Captain of the neighborhood Crime Watch.  He also was a selectively closeted gay man, hiding his sexual orientation from his community. Goucher survived deployment in Iraq, only to meet death at the hands of homophobes back home.

Private First Class Barry Winchell of Kansas City, Missouri, was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat as he slept in his barracks by a member of his unit at Fort Campbell, Kentucky on July 6, 1999.  Winchell had fallen in love with a transgender woman, Calpurnia Adams, who lived in Nashville, Tennessee.  In the fallout from his murder, President Bill Clinton ordered a review of DADT, which resulted in the addition of a “Don’t Harass” amendment to the policy, but little else. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, who represented Winchell’s parents in litigation with the U.S. Army, demanded to know who in the upper ranks of Fort Campbell knew of the murder and its subsequent cover up.  The commandant of the fort was promoted over the objections of many human rights advocates. Winchell’s story has been immortalized by the 2003 film, “Soldier’s Girl.”

Petty Officer Third Class Allen R. Schindler Jr. of Chicago Heights, Illinois was murdered on October 27, 1992 in a public toilet on base in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. His killer was a shipmate who despised Schindler for being gay. He had been outed while on board the U.S.S. Belleau Wood, and was supposedly under the protection of his superiors until he could be separated from the service.  Schindler had called his mother to tell her to expect him home by Christmas.  Instead, the Navy shipped his savaged remains home to Chicago Heights before Thanksgiving.  The only way family members could identify his remains was by a tattoo of the U.S.S. Midway on his forearm.  Otherwise, he was beaten so brutally that his uncle, sister, and mother could not tell he was their boy.  Schindler’s murder was presented as a reason DADT should never have been enacted, but authorities in Washington brushed his story aside and enacted the ban against gays in the military anyway. Schindler’s story is told at length in Unfinished Lives: Reviving the Memories of LGBTQ Hate Crimes Victims, authored by the founder of the Unfinished Lives Project, Dr. Stephen Sprinkle.

We at Unfinished Lives celebrate the repeal of DADT tonight with thanksgiving for the courage of lesbian and gay servicemembers who chose to serve their country in the military though their country chose not to honor them.  More than 13,500 women and men were drummed out of the service under DADT.  But in addition to the thousands who faced discharge and shame, we cannot forget, we must not forget, the brave souls who died at the hands of irrational hatred and ignorance–the outworking of a blatantly discriminatory policy that never should have blighted the annals of American history.  The four lives we remember here are representative of hundreds, perhaps thousands more, whose stories demonstrate the lengths to which institutions and governments will go to preserve homophobia and heterosexism.  We will remember with thanksgiving our gay and lesbian dead, for to forget them would be to contribute to the ills wrought by DADT.

September 20, 2011 Posted by | African Americans, Anglo Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Beatings and battery, Blame the victim, Bludgeoning, California, DADT, Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT), gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, gun violence, harassment, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Illinois, immolation, Kentucky, Latino and Latina Americans, Law and Order, Lesbian women, LGBTQ, military, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Protests and Demonstrations, Remembrances, Repeal of DADT, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Slashing attacks, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, stabbings, Stomping and Kicking Violence, Tennessee, Texas, transgender persons, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy, Vigils, Washington, D.C. | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is History: We Must Not Forget Its Cost

Religion, LGBTQ People, and the Post-9/11 World: Special Comment

Austin, Texas – Has religion strengthened or weakened the ability of LGBTQ people to address the traumas of the post-9/11 world?  When will LGBTQ people have the long-overdue discussion about organized religion and spirituality between queers of faith and faith-free LGBTQ people?  These are but two of the questions Dr. Stephen Sprinkle, founder and director of the Unfinished Lives Project, addressed at the 10th annual Multi-Faith Pride Service in Austin on September 8.  The service, a highlight of the yearly Austin Pride Festival, drew Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Wiccan, and Unitarian adherents, among others.  University United Methodist Church, adjacent to the main campus of the University of Texas at Austin, hosted the evening.

Dr. Sprinkle challenged Austinites to heal their sacred/secular rift in order to lead the nation in healing and wholeness during the second decade since the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.  In this excerpt, he makes his case:

“Unless and until we LGBTQ people of faith and our secular, faith-free sisters and brothers heal the rift among us over religion and learn how to work side-by-side, we will remain too divided and too weak to engage the mission our faiths call us to accomplish: the healing of the nation’s lingering wounds after 9/11.  I have a wonderful mentor and colleague here in Austin, Chaplain Paul Dodd, an ordained Baptist minister, a distinguished retired U.S. Army Chaplain, and leading pastoral counselor.  He is co-founder of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy, a visionary group of national leaders, both Gay and Straight, who have labored ceaselessly for the Repeal and Implementation of the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.  Paul deals with the religious reservations of gays and lesbians compassionately day-in-and-day-out.  But he told me recently that the time has come to say to those LGBTQ leaders who are still hung up about religion, “It is time you just get over it, and move ahead!”  I couldn’t say it better!”  

Dr. Sprinkle’s speech was interrupted by applause several times, and he received a standing ovation at the end.  One observer who has attended many Pride Services said that this was the first time in ten years anyone has been given such an honor.

For the full text of Dr. Sprinkle’s address, use this link.

September 12, 2011 Posted by | 9/11, African Americans, Anglo Americans, Austin Pride, Bisexual persons, gay bashing, gay men, Gay Pride Month, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, hate crimes prevention, hate speech, Heterosexism and homophobia, Latino and Latina Americans, Lesbian women, LGBTQ, New York, Pennsylvania, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, religious hate speech, religious intolerance, Repeal of DADT, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, Texas, transgender persons, transphobia, Washington, D.C. | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Religion, LGBTQ People, and the Post-9/11 World: Special Comment

Off Duty D.C. Policeman Fires into Transwomen’s Car, Injuring Three

Officer Kenneth Furr appears in court to answer charges of shooting into transgender women's car (Bill Hennessy drawing).

Washington, D. C. – A veteran D.C. cop has been arrested for allegedly pumping five shots into a car occupied by transgender women.  Three people were wounded by the gunfire. The five occupants of the vehicle included three transgender women, and two male friends.  The officer, 47-year-old Kenneth Furr, is a 21-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police.  He is being held pending a hearing.

The shooting incident was sparked by a confrontation at a CVS Pharmacy on 4th and Massachusetts Avenue early on the morning of August 26.  According to court documents, Furr approached one of the transwomen, soliciting her for sex.  After she refused, she and her companions got in their car and drove away.  Details are contested at this point in the story, but the most often discussed account is as follows: Furr was angered by the refusal, and raced in his vehicle to head them off.  Furr blocked the path of the victims’ car with his Cadillac, pointing his gun at the driver, who ducked as his car collided with the parked Cadillac. Officer Furr then leaped on the hood of their Chrysler 300, and shouted “I’m ‘a gonna kill all of you!” as he fired his weapon five times through the Chrysler’s windshield.  Two transwomen were wounded, and one of their friends, according to reports from NBC Washington.  The front-seat passenger suffered multiple gunshot wounds, though none of them were determined to be “life-threatening,” according to a police report.

Other Metro Police responded to the sound of the car crash and the shots.  The police report says that they found the off-duty officer standing on the hood of the victim’s vehicle with his pistol out.  They ordered him to drop the weapon.  Furr is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, and driving while intoxicated.  His blood alcohol content was in excess of 0.15, determined by a breath test.

Police were quick to issue a statement to the press on Friday morning: “Preliminary investigation reveals a confrontation occurred involving an off-duty officer and five other individuals, some of which are members of the transgender community. The officer discharged a handgun and one person was shot and sustained non-life threatening injuries.”  The police statement goes on to say, “Two other individuals involved in the incident sustained injuries which are also non-life threatening. The nature of those injuries is under investigation to determine their cause.” 

Reaction from the transgender activist community was also swift.  The Washington Blade reports that D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, “shocked” by the incident, joined local LGBT activists on Friday to express concern and solidarity for the victims, and for the transgender community of the District.  A series of violent attacks on transgender women,especially transgender women of color, have plagued the District for two years.  Relations between the Metropolitan Police and the transgender community have been strained by perceptions that the MPD has not served or protected the community well.  The actions of Officer Furr have further aggravated the troubles, with some transgender activists openly declaring that they expect nothing to change with the police, no matter what they do.  Mayor Gray issued a statement praising the LGBT community, and saying, “I am deeply troubled by the apparent circumstances surrounding this incident and await the results of a full MPD investigation. These are serious charges, and they are particularly disturbing to have been brought against one who is sworn to protect and serve.”  Leaders from Transgender Health Empowerment and the D.C. Trans Coalition have pledged to help the police with the investigation.

September 10, 2011 Posted by | African Americans, Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, GLBTQ, gun violence, harassment, Hate Crimes, Law and Order, LGBTQ, Metropolitan Police (D.C.), Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Protests and Demonstrations, Social Justice Advocacy, transgender persons, transphobia, Washington, D.C., women | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Off Duty D.C. Policeman Fires into Transwomen’s Car, Injuring Three

Queer Bashing In Utah: Third Gay Man Attacked in Two Weeks

Scene of possible anti-gay hate crime attack in American Fork, Utah (KSL 5 News photo)

American Fork, Utah – A 32-year-old gay man was attacked by slur-yelling homophobes outside the beauty salon where he is employed as a stylist.  Fox 13 reports that Cameron Nelson was emptying garbage into a dumpster just after midnight on Thursday from the Metropolitan Salon when two or three attackers jumped him, beating and kicking him repeatedly while disparaging his sexual orientation.  Managing to get back inside the shop, Nelson laid down and tried to nurse his wounds until a co-worker arrived a few hours later, found him “covered in blood,” and called paramedics and the police.  American Forks Police Lieutenant Darren Falslev told reporters that Nelson was kicked several times.  He was treated for a broken nose, abrasions, bruises, and a series of other more minor injuries.  The Salt Lake Tribune interviewed another American Forks Police Officer, Sergeant Gregg Ludlow, who called the slurs hurled at Nelson “disgusting,” and that attack against him “quite repugnant.”  Later news reports are saying that this assault may be investigated as an anti-gay hate crime, in view of the overtly homophobic epithets aimed at the victim.  Sgt. Ludlow told Q Salt Lake, “It’s pretty early in the investigation but it’s a definite possibility that the crime could be considered a hate-related crime. The slurs were made and we promise to keep investigating until the attackers are caught. We are taking this very seriously.”  Nelson is certain he was targeted because of his sexual orientation, but did not know any of his assailants. Police are searching for a white male suspect about 5′ 10″ tall with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing cutoff shorts and combat boots.

American Fork, a quintessential Utah city of just under 30,000, was best know around the nation for the filming of classic movies, such as the 1984 hit “Footloose,” starring Kevin Bacon, and its 89.9% church-going citizenry.  Now, it becomes yet another Utah city experiencing a rash of anti-gay hate crimes along the Wasatch Front, a string of cities and towns in Northeast Utah where 80% of the state’s population resides.  Nelson’s friends and the residents of the city are “in shock” about the attack. If the investigation confirms Nelson was bashed because of his gay identity, his case will become the third such assault on gay men in Utah in the last two weeks.  Two Salt Lake City men have suffered similar attacks outside a local night club, most notably, 20-year-old Dane Hall, who was “curb checked” by his attackers on August 27, suffering a smashed cheekbone, splintered jaw, and 6 missing teeth.  The American Forks Police Department say that they have not yet made a connection between the Salt Lake City attacks and the assault that targeted Nelson, but they are definitely not ruling it out.

September 9, 2011 Posted by | Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, hate speech, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, LGBTQ, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Slurs and epithets, Stomping and Kicking Violence, Unsolved LGBT Crimes, Utah | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gay Hate Crime Victim Gets Wide Community Support in Salt Lake City

Dane Hall, 20, Queer Bashed Outside Salt Lake City's Club Sound (Deseret News photo)

Salt Lake City, Utah –

SALT LAKE CITY WALKS INTO THE LIGHT
WITH SOCIAL MOVEMENT TRAINING,
FIRE VIGIL AND MARCH TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR RECENT HATE CRIME VICTIM, DANE HALL

          FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Rev. Marian Edmonds, medmonds@cohslc.org, 385-628-9870.

(September 4, 2011, Salt Lake City) On Friday, September 2 openly gay Salt Lake City resident, Dane Hall was brutally attacked by a group of four men after he left Club Sound’s gay-themed night. Hall recalls hearing an anti-gay slur shouted in his direction right before one of the men punched him in the back of the head. The attack escalated to the point where one of the men bashed Hall’s teeth into the curb causing his jaw to be broken in three places.

“We are extremely saddened but not surprised at the recent bashing of Dane Hall. This attack, motivated by hate because Mr. Hall is gay is not an isolated incident here in Salt Lake. As followers of Jesus, the people of City of Hope stand with Dane Hall and all victims of oppression and hatred. Violence against people simply for being different for whatever reason must not be tolerated in this city,” said City of Hope Pastor, Julie Watson.

In response to this hate crime, the following educational opportunity and actions are being planned by City of Hope. All are welcome to attend and help shine the brightest light possible on this hate crime while we as a community help empower each other to walk into our own light and true potential. As the coalition of supporting groups and individuals around these activities grows, a revised list of supporters will be sent to media and the community.

  • Wednesday, September 7, 7-10 PM – Social Movement Workshop facilitated by Alan Bounville, who is currently in Salt Lake City as he walks across the country for gender and sexual orientation equality.

Location: 526 East Cleveland Ave (1440 So.) Salt Lake City, UT 84105

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=225930810789482

  • Friday, September 9, 8-10 PM – Fireside Vigil and Glowlight March to raise awareness for the recent queer bashing of Dane Hall. At 8 PM, members of the community of all faiths are invited to build a fire in Liberty Park. This act is designed to fill people’s spirit with hope for a transformed world – a world where all persons are fully liberated from violence and hate. Then, at 9 PM, the group will take glow sticks and walk the sidewalks through Salt Lake City, bearing images that promote love. While the group walks, songs will be sung, prayers will be prayed and images of Dane Hall’s injuries will be shown to make the public aware of why we, as a community desperately we need to walk into the light of a world free from hate.

Location: Liberty Park and surrounding area.

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205045246224926

At present the Salt Lake City police department has not announced that the bashing of Mr. Hall was in fact a crime of bias based on his perceived sexual orientation by the four attackers, something needed for this case to be prosecuted under the federal hate crimes law known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

“I am shocked that having slurs about one’s sexuality shouted at one while one’s face is being stomped into the ground is apparently not enough to classify Dane Hall’s merciless beating as a “hate crime,” says Priestess of 1734 Witchcraft and a member of the Utah Pride Interfaith Coalition, Maureen Aisling Duffy-Boose.

CITY OF HOPE – Formerly Cathedral of Hope, this new inclusive faith community is now renamed, reflecting its commitment to work in Salt Lake City, helping the hurting, speaking truth to power, and proclaiming God’s inclusive love for ALL persons.

September 7, 2011 Posted by | Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, harassment, Hate Crimes, hate speech, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, Lesbian women, LGBTQ, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, Unsolved LGBT Crimes, Utah, Vigils | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Seth’s Law” Passes in California; Protects LGBT Students from Bullying

Seth Walsh, 13-year-old "Bullycide" Victim, Honored Posthumously With Anti-LGBT Bullying Law

Sacramento, California – California lawmakers passed a new law to protect LGBT school students from harassment and bullying on Friday, named for 13-year-old “bullycide” victim, Seth Walsh.  The Advocate reports that  AB 9, “Seth’s Law,” makes it illegal for school teachers, staff, and officials to look the other way when students are being tormented for their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.  It also requires school systems to create policies and programs to address anti-LGBT bullying. The suicide of Seth Walsh in Tehachapi, California, spurred Golden State legislators to pass the bill, since a national outcry was sparked by the youth’s suicide after months of ceaseless harassment for being gay.  Since both houses of the legislature have passed the bill, it now goes on to the desk of Governor Jerry Brown to be signed into law.

Wendy Walsh, Seth’s mother, testified in favor of the bill as it moved through the State Assembly and Senate: “I can’t bring my son back. But the California legislature can make a difference today to protect young people across our state just like Seth who are or are thought to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Schools need to take harassment and bullying seriously when parents or students tell them about it, and when they see it and hear it on the school campus.”

During a flood of national stories about LGBT teens who committed suicide in 2010 because of school bullying, Seth’s story stood out enough that a federal investigation of his school system was launched by the U.S. Department of Education.  Students, teachers, and administrators were interviewed by federal investigators, spurring the school system to initiate changes in it policies and procedures toward LGBT students.

September 3, 2011 Posted by | Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Bullying in schools, California | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Prosecutors To Retry Gay Teen Larry King’s Killer “Immediately”

Floral Tribute for Larry King, 15-year-old hate crime victim

Ventura County, California – Prosecutors in the Brandon McInerney murder trial promised to retry the teen for premeditated murder and a hate crime on Friday, the day after a Superior Court jury deadlocked on a verdict.  The Los Angeles Times reported that the prosecution maintains the evidence in the murder of 15-year-old gender variant Lawrence Fobes “Larry” King by his 14-year-old classmate in February 2008 is still persuasive: When McInerney shot King in an Oxnard middle school classroom, it was nothing less than a homophobic/transphobic hate crime and a clear cut case of premeditated homicide under California law.

The hung jury, who after several votes finally deadlocked at seven for voluntary manslaughter and five split between first- and second-degree murder, presents both a problem and an opportunity to the Ventura County officials.  On the one hand, jurors have suggested that they believe charging McInerney, now 17, for murder as an adult, was an overreach. Had he been convicted of first-degree murder, the defendant would have served better than fifty years in prison, and perhaps life.  Had McInerney been tried and convicted in juvenile court, he would have been released by age 25. Some other jurors have said to defense attorneys that the hate crime charge was not proven in court.  On the other hand, a conviction as a juvenile may be easier to obtain. So, the prosecution will have to determine whether to re-try the defendant as a juvenile this time, even though California law permits 14-year-olds to be charged and tried as adults in cases of capital murder.  Chief Assistant District Attorney Jim Ellison told the Times: “We will consider the fact that this was a very significantly split jury. We will consider everything. There are obviously very strong reactions on both sides, and we will consider all those in how we proceed.”

The murder of Larry King is the most closely watched hate crime murder case in the United States, since the trial of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson for the slaying of University of Wyoming student, 21-year-old Matthew Wayne Shepard in 1998. Of particular importance to LGBTQ advocates and other hate crimes victims throughout the country is the controversial use of the “gay panic defense” by McInerney’s defense team.  Should McInerney receive a lesser sentence for the murder of King because he was disturbed by King’s sexual orientation and gender presentation, or by his bearing, words, and deeds that expressed that dimension of who King was, such as the clothes or cosmetics he wore, or his flirtatiousness, then the implications for other killers perturbed by race, religion, sexuality, or gender characteristics would be immense. Also of note is the success of the defense in minimizing the bullying King, a bi-racial gay boy, endured in schools for over five years, virtually exclusively because of bias against his sexual orientation and gender presentation.

In a second report on Friday, the L.A. Times interviewed long-time former district attorney from Ventura County, Michael Bradbury.  Bradbury contends that even though prosecutors may glean a whole trove of new information from the current jury, re-trying anyone after a deadlocked jury is risky, especially re-trying a youth like McInerney.  Bradbury told the Times, “The public may see a straightforward murder case, but this case is far more complex, firstly, because of the age of the defendant at the time of the act and, secondly, the manner in which he was raised by his parents, which was clearly dysfunctional and by all accounts horrific.” The former D.A. went on to say that the host of strong emotions surrounding the case makes a second trial’s outcome “highly unpredictable.”

September 2, 2011 Posted by | Anglo Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Blame the victim, Bullying in schools, California, Character assassination, gay panic defense, gay teens, Gender Variant Youth, GLBTQ, gun violence, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, LGBTQ, Neo-Nazis and White Supremacy, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, School and church shootings, Social Justice Advocacy, trans-panic defense, transgender persons, transphobia | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Judge in Larry King Murder Case Declares Mistrial: Jury Hung

No Justice Yet for Hate Murder Victim Larry King

Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California – In breaking news, the judge in the trial of teen Brandon McInerney for the hate crime murder of bi-racial student Larry King has declared a mistrial. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek to retry McInerney, now 17 years old, for the murder of his gender variant classmate in 2008.  Steve Rothaus of Gay South Florida picked up the Associated Press report late this afternoon, detailing how the jury could not come to a unanimous verdict in the case.  Nine women and three men on the jury informed Judge Charles Campbell that they were stalemated over whether to find McInerney, who undisputedly shot 15-year-old Larry King to death with a .22 caliber pistol in first period computer class at E.O. Green Middle School in February 2008, guilty of manslaughter, first-degree murder, or second-degree murder.  Seven jurors declared they were in favor of a verdict of voluntary manslaughter, while the other five were split between first- and second-degree murder.

The defense team appears to have scored something of a victory, convincing a majority of the jury that their client was in some sort of “dissociative state” at the time of the killing.  More disturbingly for LGBTQ legal advocacy observers and hate crime activists is the partial success of the “gay panic defense” that Scott Wippert and the defense team denied was a part of their strategy, but which most sure was.  Defense hammered the jury with claims that teen gay student King was somehow responsible for his fate because of their rendition of “bizarre sexualized behavior” and “sexual aggression.”  The gay panic defense, which blames the victim for the crime, has been discredited for years in American courts, but the special circumstances of a youth like McInerney who came from a dysfunctional family background (both his parents were addicts) successfully clouded what was otherwise a clear cut case of first-degree, premeditated murder.

Under California law, McInerney was old enough to be tried as an adult.  Ventura County Prosecutor Maeve Fox argued that since the defendant told at least six people he was going to kill King, premeditation was clearly established. Further, Fox argued that McInerney was a fervent anti-gay boy, influenced by white supremacist and Neo-Nazi skinhead ideology and teachings.  McInerney was in possession of a trove of Nazi items and symbols, as well as white supremacist literature at the time of the murder.

Nonetheless, the mistrial gives the prosecution pause. As commentator Lisa Bloom, a respected attorney, noted on a CNN panel discussing the trial last week, the jury is not supposed to ignore premeditation or be swayed by sympathy for the sad circumstances of a defendant.  “[The gay panic defense] is not an acceptable defense in an American courtroom,”  she said. Bloom went on to assert that no jury would allow a racist to claim that rage over the acts and speech of a black person altered the consciousness of the defendant enough to push him to murder.  What is the prosecution to do in a situation in which the message that a boy was gay was enough to get him killed, and to hang the jury in his slayer’s murder trial?  McInerney killed King.  Now, whether he will face the justice his actions deserve is up in the air–as well as the memory of his victim, Lawrence Fobes “Larry” King.

September 1, 2011 Posted by | African Americans, Anglo Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Blame the victim, California, gay panic defense, gay teens, Gender Variant Youth, GLBTQ, gun violence, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, LGBTQ, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, School and church shootings, Social Justice Advocacy, trans-panic defense, transgender persons | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Gay Salt Lake City Man Savagely Attacked Outside Club

Dane Hall, 20, (center), Victim of Brutal "Curb Checking" Attack

Salt Lake City, Utah – August 26th, a gay man was beaten, robbed, and “curb checked” outside Club Sound, a nightclub that is gay-themed on Friday nights.  According to Q Salt Lake, Dane Hall, 20, an openly gay Salt Lake citizen, was surrounded by a gang of four men yelling anti-gay slurs.  One of the assailants punched Hall in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.  Another grabbed his shirt and held him while repeatedly striking him.  Then, in a move that could have killed him, Hall was forced face-down on the concrete curb with his mouth open.  His attacker then stomped repeatedly on the back of his head, breaking out six of his teeth, and splintering his jaw, a savage act called “curb checking.”  The Urban Dictionary defines “curb checking” as “The act of placing an unconscious or immobile individual’s head against a curb or similar embankment with their mouth open and stepping on or kicking them in the head.” 

Since Hall’s mouth is still wired shut from the injury, he emailed Q Salt Lake the details of the assault from his hospital: “I could have died. And a piece of bone from my jaw was jammed into my brain, to make things worse.”  Hall continued with a plea for information, since the police have been slow to identify his attackers. “If anyone has any information leading to the arrest I am offering a $10,000 reward.”  Hospital bills are mounting to over $30,000 so far.  If the Salt Lake Police do not find the assailants, Hall could be saddled for the full amount of his medical bills. This far, no suspects have been named in the case. Salt Lake City Police said the case is “active” and “being looked into.”

A pattern of attacks against gay men is forming in Salt Lake in the vicinity of Club Sound.  On a Friday night in April of this year, a 21-year-old man, Jordan Corona, was assaulted outside the club and suffered a concussion.  Q Salt Lake reported on the April attack, and quoted Corona as saying, “I just want people to see this kind of stuff really does happen and it needs to be stopped immediately.”  Corona was initially treated as a criminal by the Salt Lake City Police, and refused the services of a nurse in jail after his mistaken arrest.  Repeated sloth on the part of police to investigate anti-gay hate crimes such as those perpetrated against Hall and Corona, as well as tendencies to blame the victims instead of acting to protect the gay community, are concerning to the LGBTQ residents of Salt Lake and the wider population.  Corona protested his treatment, and the police department has acted to rectify their mistakes.  It remains to be seen if the police will do any better for Dane Hall.

September 1, 2011 Posted by | Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, Blame the victim, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, hate speech, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, LGBTQ, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Slurs and epithets, Unsolved LGBT Crimes, Utah | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Gay Salt Lake City Man Savagely Attacked Outside Club

Fate of Larry King’s Teen Murderer Goes to Jury in California

Brandon McInerney (L), and Lawrence Fobes "Larry" King, (R)

Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California – After prosecution’s closing statement yesterday, and defense’s closing statement today, the trial of teen Brandon McInerney goes to the jury.  Long weeks of hard-fought testimony, evidence and counter-evidence have come down to the judgment of twelve citizens over a deadly serious question: Is the victim of a homicide responsible for his own death, or not?  McInerney’s defense team, led by Scott Wippert, has tried mightily to paint 15-year-old Larry King as the aggressor in his own slaying, justifying their client, the confessed killer, somehow for shooting his classmate twice in the head in broad daylight. Bridling at any suggestion by the prosecution that he and his team were using a version of the discredited “gay panic defense,” in which the psychic trauma of encountering perceived harassment by a gay person “ignites” a passion to kill, Wippert nonetheless has consistently used that logic to paint King as a “sexual aggressor” who made all the boys at E.O. Green Middle School in Oxnard feel unsafe.  According to The Advocate, King’s manner of effeminate dress and language “harassed” the boys (most especially his client), and disrupted school life to the point that, as Wippert put it to the jury, “The [E.O. Green] boys didn’t feel safe in the school,” because of the 5-foot 4-inch, 125-pound King.

Prosecutor Maeve Fox sought to counter such an argument, calling the strategy of the defense an appeal to anti-gay sentiments and oppressive anti-feminine stereotypes.  “It’s an attempt to reach somewhere deep down,” she said in her rebuttal to the jury. “To a dark place.”  Fox showed a photo of King taken just days before his execution-style murder, smiling as he held up a green dress given him by his teacher, Dawn Boldrin.  According to The Advocate, King was wearing a school uniform at the time of the picture, not women’s clothing, and had on unobtrusive makeup. Fox asked the jury as she held up the picture, “This is the guy that you are being asked to believe was a sexual predator who tortured the defendant into a state of despair.This [person] is so threatening to the average male psyche of 14 or 44 or 84?”  She reminded the jury that if they bring in a verdict of manslaughter, they would be ignoring the testimony of students who said McInerney told them days before the killing that he was going to end King’s life, and further, the expert psychiatric report in which McInerney said he did not even consider his victim a human being. A manslaughter verdict would mean the jury believed that any average person would have acted in the same way McInerney did on the day he took his teenage classmate’s life.  But premeditation of the sort the defendant exhibited by planning and waiting until first period class was well underway before he pulled out his pistol and shot King in the back of the head dictates a first-degree murder sentence.

Wippert reported referred to the tender age of his client 39 times in his closing statement to the jury.  He contended that King’s quip to McInerney the day before he killed King, “What’s up, baby?”, was “the straw that popped the balloon,” and pushed McInerney to shoot him.  Fox rebutted that King was just giving back something of the stress that he had experienced from McInerney and his clique as they bullied him for being different.

But would an average person take such umbrage at affectations and effeminate ways, even if aimed at such a person, that he would plan and shoot an unarmed person in cold blood?  Prosecutor Fox said no.  McInerney wasn’t acting as an average person.  He was acting out his white supremacist schooling to kill a sub human, as reported by the Associated Press.  He believed, Fox contended, that killing King was doing everyone a favor, and that he would be congratulated for doing it.

The jury will decide soon.  No case of a hate crime killing against a gay person has drawn more attention since the murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. If the jury brings in a verdict of manslaughter, McInerney, who is now 17, may be eligible for release before he is forty.  If they decide for first-degree murder, he may not see freedom before he is 57.

August 26, 2011 Posted by | African Americans, Anglo Americans, Anti-Gay Hate Groups, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Blame the victim, Bullying in schools, California, Character assassination, gay bashing, gay panic defense, gay teens, Gender Variant Youth, GLBTQ, gun violence, harassment, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, LGBTQ, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, School and church shootings, trans-panic defense, transgender persons, transphobia | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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